GEORGE TOWN: From tiny turtle hatchlings to vibrant corals and drifting jellyfish, Penang’s new Marine Education Centre (MEC) offers visitors a hands-on look at the state’s underwater world.
Located at Angsana Teluk Bahang, the centre features interactive display tanks, preserved marine specimens, an open laboratory, outdoor classrooms and a beachside turtle hatchery. Admission is free.
Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Adnan Hussain said the centre aims to foster a closer connection between the public and the marine environment through education and hands-on interaction.
“Marine conservation is not only about protecting resources and wildlife, but also about building awareness so society understands the value of the sea and plays a role in protecting it,” he said at yesterday’s launch.
The MEC is a joint effort between the Fisheries Department, Aquaria KLCC and Angsana Teluk Bahang, supported by scientific expertise from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT).
Adnan noted that Penang recorded 338 turtle landings between 2021 and August this year, with 16,085 hatchlings released.
These comprised 15,975 Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) and 110 Olive Ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea).
The 110 Olive Ridley hatchlings emerged along the beach near Angsana Teluk Bahang in 2023, marking the species’ return to Penang after last nesting in 2019.
The location was designated a Turtle-Friendly Beach in 2024 under a collaboration between the Fisheries Department and Aquaria KLCC, under guidance of UMT research.
Adnan stressed that continued monitoring, habitat protection and education remain crucial, adding that strandings of turtles, dolphins and dugong between 2021 and August underlined the urgent need for preventive conservation.
UMT marine conservationist Prof Dr Mohd Uzair Rusli said rising public interest in marine issues offers an opportunity to expand conservation education.
He suggested Malaysia turn its natural assets into experience-based ecotourism, pointing to UMT’s Chagar Hutang Turtle Sanctuary on Redang Island, where annual nestings rose from 300–500 to nearly 3,000 over 30 years.
Uzair added that ecotourism revenue could directly benefit local communities.
Also present were Penang Fisheries Department director Azimah Jumatli, Aquaria KLCC group executive chairman Datuk Simon Foong and Angsana Teluk Bahang general manager Nantha Kumar.
